With the proliferation of intelligent call servers and policy engines that manage and direct personal or system call flows and information flows, there are also equivalent numbers of complex call handling policies and routing rules that end users need to control and configure in order to effectively manage communication and business interactions. For some users and businesses, the policies are the means to optimally minimize communications to avoid disruptions to their current work load. For others, the policies and rules are the means to enhance reachability for their activities or businesses.
The advancement and sophistication of such servers and engines, coupled with a fast paced, dynamic and constantly changing work environment, creates a problem for end users who are faced with the challenge of managing the complexity of rules and policies on a day to day basis. Complexity of rules setting, rules updating, exceptions setting and resetting are just a few examples that sometimes require the users to be experts to benefit from the value such servers and engines offer.
One approach to rule management is provided in US Patent Publication Number 2007/0165554, which discloses a call handling presence server that includes a machine learning component that derives call handling rules based on basic contact information, user call handling patterns, and presence information, and further seeks approval from the user for implementation of the rules. However, a user of the call handling presence server generally risks inundation of screen pop-ups which suggest new rules (so-called screen-pop syndrome), provides no means for implementing new rules should the user be unavailable to accept the new rules. Further the call handling presence server is limited as to how new rules are developed.